Foros do IV Congreso da Cibersociedade

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The Coltan situation is indeed pretty awful. I wonder what other strategies could be run in parallel to those suggested by the presentation (symbolic boycott, free access to technologies and a documentary). I believe very little people are aware of that context, but there is no interest of the hype-driven specialized media to portray that subject.

Bringing that kind of information to public, and making it easy to understand, would be a start. But then, assuming we can draw attention to it, we should suggest alternatives. What can people do about it? The first thing, obviously, is try to extend the lifetime of electronics to avoid buying new ones. But let's face it, the odds of that becoming a popular concern are very small. Maybe civil action is not enough to actually provoke a change here, and there should be a stronger effort in influencing product design...

Anyone knows whether there is any materials research being developed in order to replace coltan with other, more sustainable materials? Or, at least, whether Coltan can be reused from already existing equipments, making less pressure on its extraction?